A Filipino resident of Bermuda who lost her aunt to the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan was last night planning how to get help to other relatives left homeless by the storm.

Magdalena Francisco has learned that her aunt Frendis was killed in the city of Tacloban — a city of 220,000 which took the brunt of Friday’s storm.

Communications from the devastated country remain tenuous, but yesterday Ms Francisco was relieved to learn that her cousins and their children — who had initially been feared dead — were safely united with other family in Manila, the country’s capital.

“Right now, I can’t say anything,” she told The Royal Gazette last night. “All I know is they really, really need help.”

Her cousins escaped with their lives, but lost their homes and all their possessions.

“I have two sisters in Bermuda so tonight we will talk about what we will do to help them,” said Ms Francisco, who has lived in Bermuda for 15 years.

For many in Bermuda’s Filipino community, half a world away from home, Facebook and other social media have provided the only link to a country still reeling from the aftermath of the storm.

Ms Francisco’s source of news has been a cousin working in Hong Kong.

During Monday’s fundraising lunch held by the Association of Filipinos in Bermuda, she had originally thought that her cousins had also been claimed by the typhoon.

“I got the message on Facebook and I was crying,” she said. “I forgot my cousins live in that area. I was devastated.”

A long term resident of Bermuda, Ms Francisco has seen her share of hurricanes — including Fabian in 2003, the Island’s worst in recent memory.

Haiyan, however, has been ranked as one of the worst tropical storms on record.

A housekeeper and part-time waitress, Ms Francisco kept working as news trickled in from overseas.

She said many others in the Island’s Filipino community have received bad news — or are still struggling to find out what happened to loved ones back home.

Asked if the tragedy had brought the community closer together, she said: “I think it’s our culture; we always help each other like family. That’s how we are, even if we don’t know each other personally.”

She added: “I am just glad, I thank God, all my cousins are safe and all their children are alive. I am thankful. Unfortunately, my aunt is the one who did not make it.”